The Forgotten Garden is a deliciously complex tale that begins in 1913 with a four year old girl abandoned on a ship in London that is about to embark to Australia. The girl is adopted by a loving new family and she is happy until her 18th birthday, when her adoptive father gives her the small white suitcase that was hers as that 4 year old. Inside is a book of fairy tales that bring glimmers of memory back to her.
The narrative seamlessly weaves back and forth between Nell, Eliza and Cassandra, three generations of women who try to break away from the evil secret at the core of their family.
This is one of those all-consuming stories that hold the reader in thrall until the last page. It reads like a modern Bronte or Hugo.
